Can you use a Commodore 64 as a daily driver in 2016? I think yes (Article by Kirkwood Rietveld)

With the Christmas season quickly approaching I thought I would use the deals on hardware components to try to upgrade my current desktop. Upon shifting through the various hardware websites advertising dozens of various CPU’s, GPU’s, and enough cases to make my head spin, I soon began to miss the days before 6700Ks and 1070 SLI, and reminisce about a time when rocking a stock 1MHz MOS 6510 chip was enough to suffice both the business and casual home user. This led me to think to myself and wonder if I could still use the Commodore 64 for today’s tasks, but with more than 64k of ram.

Looks like a normal Commodore at first glance

Side note:

A while back I saved a couple bins of Commodore 64’s and 1541 drives from a life in a dull, musty warehouse, so repurposing one of the rougher ones seemed reasonable.

I saved these little guys from a life in an old warehouse.

As I was sitting in my chair thinking of the days long past, I received an email in my inbox alerting me of a Black Friday sale at my university’s TechShop. As I browsed through, I was faced with an Intel Compute Stick on sale for $100CND. Seeing this made me think of possibly replacing the current Raspberry Pi 2 that currently lives inside my long abandoned Commodore 64 media server. I decided to try it out and, with the help of a Keyrah V2, I was able to bring the Commodore 64 into the 21st century. The hardware inside the Intel Computer Stick consists of an Intel Atom Z3735F processor clocked in at 1.33GHz Turboboost to 1.83 GHz, 2 GB of DDR3 1333MHz ram, 32 GB of integrated flash storage, microSD reader, single USB 2.0 host, single band Bluetooth/Wifi and an HDMI 1.4 out. From a hardware side, this would be quite the upgrade to the existing Commodore 64. The 32 GB of storage is enough to hold the entirety of the Commodore 64 software library of approximately 22,000 titles and still store Star Trek’s Original series in glorious high definition.

Side view with USB host, Micro USB in for power, and on/off

The side of the board with the joysticks and emulation switch

* A disclaimer I feel I must add before I dive into building my machine: The unit I used was, and is, still currently functional. The motherboard was not damaged in its removal and lives inside an antistatic bag in my desk. The goal of this project was to build a little emulation machine that could also power my media needs while utilizing the original hardware as much as possible.

Note for the reader*

For those who have not used a Keyrah v2 before it is a piece of hardware that allows users of C16, C64, C128, Vic-20, Amiga 1200 and Amiga 600 to use the original keyboard and joysticks on any Windows, Mac, or Linux systems with USB support. They can be used on English and German keyboards and are mapped to work within the most popular emulators; however, I remapped several keys to having a “Windows” key as my “C=” key. They can be purchased from here for roughly $50CND plus shipping.

Using the computer for everyday tasks.

After putting everything together for the first time I experienced a rush of nostalgia, and a desire to play some LoadRunner and Jumpman. The Commodore is powered by a micro USB cable connected to a 2.1 amp wall adapter; however, I have also added an internal 12000MAh battery bank to the unit to make it portable and can power the unit for more than 25 hours. If you are scratching your head and asking ‘why would you need a Windows 10 powered Commodore 64 to be portable?”, the answer I have is why not? Although it may not instantly turn on and boot into basic like the original Commodore 64 did, it does boot into the Windows 10 desktop in 15 to 20 seconds. Performance is great, and even under heavy media sessions the computer is just as quiet as it was in 1982 – but temperatures seem to range from 40-60 degrees Celsius, so I might need to install an additional small fan in the back of the unit.

At this point of the article, I’m sure everyone’s asking the same question – how’s the emulation performance? Well, to be honest… it is awesome. Contrary to most graphics cards, I am able to get 60 FPS while playing beautiful 8-bit glory. One special feature of the Keyrah v2 is the ability to switch the keyboard to emulation mode with the flick of a switch beside the joystick ports.

The Keyrah v2, Intel Comput stick and battery present. Sorry for the mess.

Commodore 64 emulation: Using VICE, I was able to have a near perfect emulation experience of using a Commodore 64. I tested running cartridge games such as Jumpman and Attack of the Mutant Camels with ease, and floppy games such as Indiana Jones and Ghosts ‘n Goblins ran perfectly after using my most well memorized basic command, LOAD ‘*’,8,1.

TI99/4A emulation: Playing with Classic99 I was able to use the Commodore 64 to run TI99/4A software flawlessly which I found quite interesting. I found myself spending far too long playing Munch Man and Demon Attack then I should have.

Amstrad CPC emulation: WinApe installed and ran without any major issues, and graphics seem to be par with my Amstrad hardware. I used this emulator to only play text based adventure games but I had no issues. The Hobbit ran just as well as it does on my hardware. Remembering how to use the ‘CAT’ command after so many years was the hardest part.

NES emulation: Running roms in Nestopia I experienced no issues. Playing games such as Mario 3 and Contra with both the keyboard and joystick was perfect.

N64 emulation: Using a USB to N64 adapter I was able to play Mario 64 and Zelda Majora’s mask with no dropped frames or ill effects. Project 64 has certainly become the best emulator in the recent years

DOS emulation: A one would expect with DosBox, games such as Commander Keen and Castle Wolfenstein ran without any issues.

In conclusion, using a Commodore 64 in the year 2016 is easier than one might first think. Of course, this isn’t for everyone, but I feel it suits my needs very well. It plays my emulators perfectly, email, YouTube and is Microsoft Office run without issue. I highly recommend anyone with a broken Commodore 16/64/128 or Amiga who wants to have a nostalgic experience to pick up a Keyrah V2 for themselves. If anyone has another question about the build or the emulators I used feel free to let me know.

I agree with Tom.
And it’s really annoying to see such “click-bait” articles even on an emulation site as well. As one expects creativity how modern day needs can be fulfilled with a legendary microcomputer. But here’s the “umpteenth” article about tinkering with a pre-built/barebone/stick PC inside of an old computer’s shell. Not to mention that it’s a sacrilege to emulate a Zilog processor in a Commodore housing! 😀
The only informative part of the article for me was the Keyrah.